This invention relates to a flexible tube switch, and more specifically, to a flexible tube valve for use in a musical wind instrument.
Simple flexible tube switches have been used in musical instruments previously. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,078 to Veneklasen at FIGS. 11a and 11b, shows the use of such a switch in a French horn of unique design. Such prior art uses incorporate a single tube having one end fixed and the other end free to move between two positions. These switches are not suitable to replace the standard valves of a normal French horn, trumpet or similar brass instrument because they can only change the course of a single air passageway.
Standard brass wind instrument valves are either piston or rotary type valves which include a piston or rotor with multiple passages extending therethrough. When activated such valves interrupt the passage of sound waves from an instrument's lead pipe to its main bore by routing the waves from the lead pipe, through a slide loop, then back into the main bore. The pistons or rotors of such valves are typically machined from solid blocks of metal and include a variety of tortuous passages which are difficult to produce. Such standard valves require frequent lubrication and other maintenance.